The hearing must offer the official or employee an opportunity to "present testimony personally and through witnesses, to cross-examine witnesses presented in favor of removal and to compel the attendance of witnesses by subpoena issued in the name of the council," according to the charter.

The council must designate a lawyer who has been in "good standing" with the state bar for at least 10 years to preside over the hearing in place of the council president. Should the mayor be removed from office, Council President Pedro Segarra would complete his term.

Eddie Alberto Perez, the city's first Hispanic mayor, who promised an era of reform and accountability when he was elected nearly a decade ago, was sentenced to three years in prison Tuesday for accepting deeply discounted home repairs and trying to extort a payoff on behalf of a political...